Living in Silence: Toraichi Kono

1. Living in Silence: Toraichi Kono PRODUCERS Philip W. Chung, Clyde Kusatsu, Tim Lounibos ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Sara Edel, Nancy Yuen FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT:323.993.7245 or konofilm@aol.com

2. Contents • Cover and Contents page Slides 1-2 • Introduction Slides 3-4 • Who was Kono? Slides 5-8 • Story Treatment Slides 9-13 • Strategies for Success Slides 14-17 • Producers’ Bios Slides 18-22

3. Introduction • Documentary on Toraichi Kono who came to America with nothing, gained success and status by becoming personal secretary to international celebrity Charlie Chaplin, then lost it all in an environment of fear, accusations and paranoia

4. Introduction Purpose: • Tell an untold tale of one man’s struggle to attain the “American Dream” – one that is compelling, enlightening and fascinating • Reach a large audience and help keep history from repeating itself in the unfair treatment of individuals due to skin-color, media images and current events • Reclaim a portion of Hollywood and U.S. history by emphasizing Kono’s story as one that is truly American

5. Who was Kono? • Japanese immigrant who came to America in 1900 with nothing but dreams for a better life

6. Who was Kono? • Charlie Chaplin’s chauffeur, personal secretary, and closest confidant from 1916 to 1934 • “Kono is my man Friday. He is everything – muse, valet, private secretary, and bodyguard” -Charlie Chaplin

7. Who was Kono? • Alleged Japanese spy arrested in 1941 and incarcerated before and after the mass internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor

8. Who was Kono? • Loving Husband, Father, Friend, Community Leader

9. Story Treatment: Part I – The Early Years • Will explore Kono’s early life: his colorful youth in Japan, the reasons for his immigration to the States as a teen, his initial struggles in Seattle, marriage, and the fateful move to Los Angeles that would lead him to the most famous man in the world—Charlie Chaplin. 

10. Story Treatment: Part II – The Chaplin Years • Will examine the eighteen years Kono spent working as Chaplin’s valet and closest confidant.  At a time when Asians were barely second-class citizens, Kono held power and had access to a world of wealth and privilege that few Americans could even imagine.  How did Kono maintain this position and what ultimately caused it all to go away?

11. Story Treatment: Part III – The Post-Chaplin Years • After his acrimonious split from Chaplin, Kono made an attempt to rebuild his life but found that all the doors that had been opened to him before were now permanently closed.  Learning that life for an Asian man in America was much more difficult than he had previously known and reeling from the premature death of his wife, Kono struggled in vain to regain his standing unaware of greater tragedies to come.

12. Story Treatment: Part IV – World War II • Even before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kono found himself caught up in accusations of espionage along with a Japanese naval officer named Tachibana.  Although charges were dropped, Kono was again arrested on December 7, 1941 and spent more than six years incarcerated at various camps as a potential “alien enemy” while his family worked tirelessly to secure his freedom.

13. Story Treatment: Part V–The Post-World War II Years • Finally released, Kono worked with “Tex” Nakamura and attorney Wayne Collins to help other Japanese Americans facing similar problems with the U.S. government. Eventually, he returned to his hometown in Japan where he would live out the rest of his days never to regain the glory of his early years—a time he fondly considered “the best of his life.”

14. Strategies for Success: Distribution • Submit to various prestigious film festivals, both Asian American and mainstream, drawing upon pre-existing contacts with a number of these festival organizers • Secure global theatrical, cable, and video distribution deals via film festivals • Target venues (proven receptive to similar projects) such as PBS, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and the Sundance Channel, which has recently partnered with Docurama to launch the Sundance Channel Home Entertainment Documentary Collection • Utilize membership base of community organizations like the JACL and Japanese American National Museum

15. Strategies for Success:Marketing • Draw on connections with the Asian American Journalists Association, which has members at most major television stations and print media throughout the United States • Utilize print media, drawing on pre-existing relationships with publications including the Rafu Shimpo, Korea Times, Asian Week, KoreAm Journal, the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly • Utilize pre-existing relationships with numerous organizations in the Asian American community throughout the United States • Capitalize on mass media’s heightened awareness and interest of all things Asian and Asian American during the month of May—Asian Pacific Heritage Month

16. Strategies for Success: School Outreach • Explore the possibility of raising the funds necessary to distribute copies of this film to schools throughout the country – similar to efforts that were made to distribute 10,000 video copies of the film Farewell to Manzanar throughout the California public school system Under the sponsorship of then-Lieutenant Governor Cruz M. Bustamante, producer Clyde Kusatsu participated in the distribution of the film to California school libraries and is able to draw upon that experience as well as connections made throughout the process

17. Strategies for Success:Website • Simple but effective marketing tool to reach and nurture a mass audience • Take advantage of various marketing techniques and access the large network of Asian American websites and email lists before, during, and after production • Provide interested users with information about the documentary, production updates and progress reports, viewing information, and links to other related websites

18. Producers’ Bios PHILIP W. CHUNG (CO-PRODUCER) • Asian American history and literature teacher • Journalist for numerous Asian American and mainstream publications • Written, produced or directed over 60 plays, workshops and readings • Writing credits include Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and a number of Warner Bros. Television pilots, as well as writing and directing two short films • Currently developing several film scripts and projects • Co-founded and co-artistic directs the highly acclaimed Lodestone Theatre Ensemble

19. Producers’ Bios CLYDE KUSATSU (CO-PRODUCER) • Graduate of Northwestern University's famed theatre program • Professional acting career spanning 32 years in film, TV and theatre • Acted in films including The Interpreter and Paradise Road, on TV series from Magnum P.I. to Ally McBeal, and played Judge Lance Ito in the TV movie American Tragedy • Starred in Farewell To Manzanar – the first movie to deal with the internment camp experience on network television • Affiliated with groups like Visual Communications, Japanese American National Museum and East West Players as an actor, producer and teacher

20. Producers’ Bios TIM LOUNIBOS (CO-PRODUCER) • Produced My America – the Sept. 11th memorial event in New York City – The Ammy Awards, and The Ovation Awards • Executive produced the short film Harlequin • Currently producing the indie films The Sensei and way leads onto way starring Sandra Oh • Was Development Manager for aOnline (named “Best Asian American Community site of 2001” by Yahoo Internet Life Magazine) • Professional actor who has starred, guest starred or appeared in 100+ films, tv shows, videos, commercials and plays over a fourteen-year career • Co-founded, co-artistic directed and board member of Lodestone Theatre Ensemble • Participant on numerous panels discussing the image of Asian Americans in the media

21. Producers’ Bios SARA J. EDEL (ASSOCIATE PRODUCER) • Currently a grant writer for the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc., San Francisco, CA • UC DIGSSS Fellow.  UC Diversity Initiative for Graduate Study in the Social Sciences.  Los Angeles, CA 2005. • Phi Beta Kappa.  Alpha of Maine 2002. • Experience in conducting extensive, in-person interviews with community-based and governmental workforce development service providers. • Published “First Source Hiring Agreements: An Overview,” Fresno Works for Better Health, part of the California Works for Better Health Initiative, in 2005. Funded by the California Endowment and the Rockefeller Foundation.

22. Producers’ Bios NANCY WANG YUEN (ASSOCIATE PRODUCER), • PhD. candidate in Sociology at UCLA • Spearheaded a study of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Primetime Television in Fall 2004 (downloadable at www.napalc.org), and will follow up with a study for the Fall 2005 season • Recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship   • Published "Performing Race, Negotiating Identity: Asian American Professional Actors in Hollywood,” as a chapter in Asian American Youth Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity, edited by Min Zhou (UCLA) and Jennifer Lee (UCI), in 2004 (Routledge)   • Currently working on a dissertation study of Hollywood actors and whether their experiences vary by race and gender